EAGAN, Minn. – Before dozens of volunteers roamed the Twin Cities suburbs knocking on voters’ doors on a recent sunny Saturday afternoon, Representative Angie Craig, Democrat of Minnesota, rallied them at a campaign office in a strip mall here to make sure they remembered a particular message.
“As you go to the door, what I want you to keep in mind is that if Tyler Kistner was your member of Congress, he was the one who said he was 100% pro-life,” Ms. Craig said, recommending to her Republican opponent. “Today, the people of this district have never had a different choice. We as the party – and I am a member of Congress – will be the bulwark in defense of your reproductive rights, your privacy, your liberties.”
In competitive areas around the country like Craig’s, Democrats in tough re-election races are leaning heavily on abortion rights as the closing argument for the battles. their hard bid to win their seat in a year when their party majority was at risk.
Armed with poll data showing that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion sent independent voters in their direction, they reoriented their campaigns around this issue in the critical final weeks before the election.
The strategy was built with the hope that in the few tight races that would decide control of the House of Representatives, the abolition of abortion rights empowered independent voters and women of the affiliation. so conservative that it could allow vulnerable Democrats to win. previously seemed out of reach.
Nearly every ad sponsored by the House Democrats super PAC is about reproductive rights, including one of the dramatics consequences of a national abortion ban, in which police handcuff doctors, nurses and patients seeking or performing “health care services that have been legal for nearly 50 years.” Roundtables organized by vulnerable incumbents organized by OBs/GYNs and elaborate events that heavily deploy the endorsement of Planned Parenthood.
Status of midterm elections 2022
As the primaries close, both parties are shifting their focus to the November 8 general election.
This is a rare opportunity for Democrats to strike in a campaign cycle that was originally expected to deal heavy losses for their party, and in which their majority remains at risk. risks amid rising inflation, crime concerns and President Biden’s sagging approval ratings. However, in recent weeks, internal polls showing the threat of losing access to abortion have invigorated some abortion rights advocates, who typically don’t vote in elections. midterm elections and independent support for Democratic candidates, potentially exposing the party to a loss.
Whether that issue alone can turn the tide for Democrats remains to be seen. They had to work hard to find a way to remind voters of the key climate, health and tax measure enacted in August in the face of unanimous Republican opposition, including a popular measure to lower prices. prescription drugs.
And Mrs. Craig’s campaign volunteers were armed with pamphlets with the endorsement of a local county sheriff, which featured a large photograph of the two – a nod to saw the potential for a crime problem, which Republicans tried to weaponize against Democrats in the election. The day is near.
But the abortion decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, Ms. Craig said of pepperoni pizza and a pint of beer in the middle of a campaign stop at a Woodbury brewery, “changed everything.”
As she drove past Sam’s Club that morning, she said, gas sold for $3.44 – a price she admitted was “painful”.
“But when you’re talking about taking away someone’s personal rights, and the government interferes with your health care decisions or your marriage decisions, or your decisions about whether to use Contraception or not? It’s a whole other level.”
Many of her constituents “didn’t like masks,” she said. They don’t like vaccine duties, and they certainly don’t want a politician in the doctor’s office with them. “
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Vulnerable Democrats around the country are trying to deliver the same messages. In central Virginia, Representative Abigail Spanberger’s first campaign ad of the season attacked her Republican opponent, Yesli Vega, as “too extreme for Virginia,” citing her endorsement of the campaign. Vega for the ban on abortion.
In Pennsylvania, Representative Susan Wild, who is facing a rematch against Lisa Scheller, a Republican production executive, recently criticized her opponent’s stance on abortion as continuation government overreach.
“The role of Lisa Scheller – or anyone in government – is not to tell you what you can do with your body,” Ms Wild said in an ad.
And in east-central Michigan, Representative Dan Kildee, who is facing his first serious reelection challenge since his election a decade ago, is proudly running as a “candidate.” sole supporter in this race.”
Mr. Kildee said in an interview that he had “lost the number” of Republicans who told him they would not support candidates who oppose abortion rights in November.
“A really substantial percentage of people in Michigan and in my county believe that decisions should be made by a woman with a choice, not by someone in government,” he continued. “And that seems like a bubbling sentiment – as opposed to a real debate about the effectiveness of abortion as a choice. It’s really about who should make the choice. “
Republicans, confident that voters will focus on inflation and public safety rather than abortion rights, have largely left the issue unanswered. Many people have sought to avoid the topic altogether and in some cases as they head into the general election cycle, they edited or removed The abortion sections on their website are used to make a difference in crowded Republican primaries.
Mr. Kildee’s opponent, Paul Junge, said in 2020 Republican Preliminary Debate Roe sued Wade for extending the “right to makeup” to women and that he was “pro-life” and “always pro-life.” The House Democrats super PAC featured the remarks in an ad featuring an OB/GYN.
Ms Craig’s rival Mr Kistner, who served nine years as an officer in the Marines and lost to Ms Craig by two percentage points in 2020, calls himself “100% pro-life”. on his campaign website in his last first. cycle, a description that Ms. Craig has latched onto. Mr. Kistner said that he would support abortion if the mother’s life was in danger and in cases of rape and incest, and that the matter should be left to the states to decide.
In her first competition, Miss Scheller said she would “open up” to support federal law that makes it an offense for a doctor to perform an abortion with a detectable heartbeat. But she added that she would support abortion in cases of incest and rape. (That hasn’t stopped Democrats from running ads accusing Ms. Scheller of wanting to criminalize abortion “even in cases of rape and incest.”)
Democrats have even extended their attacks against Republicans, who widely support abortion rights. A word of caution television advisement against George Logan, a Republican congressman and former Connecticut senator who is running against Representative Jahana Hayes, arguing that he “refuses to support Roe v. Wade” and will vote for a party leader in the House of Representatives who will push for a nationwide ban on abortion.
Mr. Logan is one of the few Republicans running for Congress across the country who have made it clear that they do not support a national ban.
“I believe it will be up to the states,” he said after a rally in New England organized by the Republican National Committee, according to Connecticut Mirror. “In Connecticut, we codified women’s right to choose. That’s what I support.”
